Transcript profiling of transgenic rice lines where the OsMADS26 gene is over-expressed or down growing cultivated in standard or osmotic stress condition. Oryza sativa

Functional analyses of MADS-box transcription factors in plants have unraveled their role in major developmental programs (e.g; flowering and floral organ identity), in stress-related developmental processes such as abscission, fruit ripening and senescence and the role of some of them in stress response regulation was reported. The aim of this study was to decipher the genes that are under the control of the OsMADS26 transcription factor in rice in standard or osmotic stress condition. Transcriptome analysis in over-expressor and down-regulated OsMADS26 rice transgenic lines revealed that several major regulators of biotic and abiotic stress responses are mis-regulated compared to control plants, suggesting that OsMADS26 acts as an upstream negative regulator of stress-associated genes. Overall design: Transgenic plants over-expressing or down-regulated (by RNA interference) for OsMADS26 were obtained and used to study the impact of this transcription factor on gene regulation in plants cultivated in standard or osmotic stress (100 mM manitol) condition.